'Full Grown Men': Indie comedy opens

'Full Grown Men': Film that was subject of behind-the-scenes chronicle comes to big screen

G. Allen Johnson

Published 4:00 am, Thursday, July 24, 2008

Photo: Emerging Pictures

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Matt McGrath as Alby and Benjamin Karpf as Rollie in "Full Grown Men," David Munro's film about a 35-year-old husband and father who longs for the days of his carefree boyhood, opening Friday July 25 at Landmark's Lumiere Theatre in San Francisco. less

Matt McGrath as Alby and Benjamin Karpf as Rollie in "Full Grown Men," David Munro's film about a 35-year-old husband and father who longs for the days of his carefree boyhood, opening Friday July 25 at ... more

Photo: Emerging Pictures

'Full Grown Men': Indie comedy opens

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When The Chronicle was looking for a Bay Area-produced independent film to track from inception to distribution, David Munro and Xandra Castleton's "Full Grown Men" seemed like a good bet. After all, they had a good script, startup investment, a good business plan and a production office, and they were married, educated and seemed relatively stable and responsible.

It says something about the rough-and-tumble world of indie film that "Full Grown Men" - written and produced by both, directed by Munro - is just now getting a release. Munro and Castleton started their production company, Grottofilms, in 2002, and The Chronicle first profiled their efforts in May 2004.

"We knew it was going to be hard," Munro said. "It's so risky for a company to take on a film that doesn't have a name star or a gleaming knife on the poster."

"Full Grown Men," shot in the summer of 2005, is a comedy about a 35-year-old eternal child (Matt McGrath) who leaves his wife and kid to return to a world of action figures, joining forces with a high school friend (Judah Friedlander) to take a road trip to Diggityland (read Disneyland). The supporting cast includes respected talent such as Alan Cumming, Amy Sedaris and Deborah Harry (yes, Blondie herself).

It's the type of man-boy creation Judd Apatow is reaping millions from, yet after its debut at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2006, there were no decent offers from distribution companies. A year on the festival circuit and its citation by the Sundance Channel and Indiewire as an undiscovered gem helped lead to a deal with Emerging Pictures, the latest distribution company from indie mogul Ira Deutchman.

"We got good national press and reviews right off the bat," Munro said. "We had another (weaker) offer and were ready to pull the trigger on that when Ira Deutchman stepped in."

Munro says the total budget of "Full Grown Men" is $2 million, and getting a small national release is just the beginning of the long road - already six years and counting - to getting that money back, through theatrical and overseas revenue, eventual DVD sales and television deals.

Given that effort, surely Munro, 45, and Castleton, 39, now parents of a 1-year-old daughter, Jasmin, are ready to pack it in and get real jobs?

"I'm writing a comic book/graphic novel that we want to make into a film called 'The Informers,' " Munro said. "It's about a fascist high school that's trying to rid itself of its misfits and outcasts, with a 'High Noon' plot."

Seems that Munro and Castleton also refuse to grow up.

Starts Fri. David Munro and Xandra Castleton will be at the 7:30 p.m. showings Fri.-Sun. and the 4:45 p.m. showings Sat.-Sun. The Lumiere, 1572 California St., S.F. (415) 267-4893, www.landmarktheatres.com.